Climate Crisis Is Stealing Childhoods

News Desk

Islamabad: For millions of children around the world, floods are no longer rare natural disasters, they have become a recurring part of childhood. 

Homes disappear beneath rising waters, classrooms fall silent, clean drinking water becomes scarce, and diseases spread rapidly, leaving the youngest and most vulnerable to bear the heaviest burden of the global climate crisis.

A recent UNICEF report paints a stark picture of this growing emergency, revealing that nearly 27.7 million children across 27 countries were affected by floods in 2022.

Pakistan, Bangladesh, Chad and The Gambia recorded the highest number of children impacted by flooding in more than three decades, highlighting the increasing intensity of climate-related disasters.

According to UNICEF, children caught in floods face multiple risks beyond the immediate danger of drowning. Contaminated water, disease outbreaks, malnutrition, disrupted education, displacement and heightened exposure to violence combine to create long-term challenges that can shape an entire generation.

As world leaders gathered for the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, UNICEF urged governments to recognize that climate change is increasingly becoming a children’s crisis.

“This year, flooding has reached unprecedented levels throughout the world, and with it, the number of hazards to children has skyrocketed,” said Paloma Escudero, head of UNICEF’s delegation to COP27.

She warned that today’s children are enduring hardships that many of their parents never experienced, as climate-driven disasters continue to intensify.

Pakistan Among Hardest-Hit Countries

Pakistan remains one of the countries most severely affected by catastrophic flooding. In the flood-ravaged provinces of Sindh and Balochistan, more than one in nine children under the age of five required medical treatment, reflecting the scale of the humanitarian emergency.

The education sector also suffered immense losses. Nearly 27,000 schools were damaged or destroyed, interrupting the education of around 2 million children and leaving many communities struggling to restore learning months after the disaster.

A Global Crisis Beyond Pakistan

The report shows that the impact extends far beyond South Asia.

In Chad, widespread flooding destroyed more than 465,000 hectares of farmland, worsening food insecurity for thousands of families already facing severe shortages.

Malawi experienced devastating flooding following Tropical Storm Ana, which damaged water and sanitation systems and contributed to a major cholera outbreak that claimed more than 200 lives, including 28 children. More than 1,600 children contracted the disease.

In South Sudan, repeated flooding combined with conflict has pushed even more children towards severe food insecurity, while in Nigeria, recent floods displaced nearly 840,000 children. Yemen also witnessed widespread displacement after heavy rainfall damaged shelters housing vulnerable families.

UNICEF warned that floods often trigger secondary crises that prove even deadlier than the disasters themselves, including outbreaks of cholera, diarrhoea, malaria and acute malnutrition.

Call for Climate Action

UNICEF says the world must urgently invest in climate adaptation to protect children from increasingly frequent disasters.

The agency is calling for stronger water, healthcare and education systems capable of withstanding floods and droughts, while urging wealthy nations to significantly increase financial support for vulnerable countries.

Speaking at COP27, Escudero said the summit represented an opportunity to establish a clear roadmap for climate adaptation financing and support for countries suffering climate-related losses.

UNICEF stressed that protecting children from climate change is no longer a future challenge but an immediate humanitarian priority, warning that without sustained investment and decisive global action, millions more children could face growing risks to their health, education and future.